Ocean Doctor

10/06/2025

THIS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2025 6-7pm EDT
Registration: https://bit.ly/4nJu1CC

Join moderator Rachel Isaacs, program coordinator in the MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy and MS in Geographic Information Systems programs, for an online panel on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and girls. Panelists Lorena Aguilar, Christina Kwauk, and Nevada Winrow will discuss UN data showing women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die in extreme weather events, and that because women make up most of the world’s poor, they represent 4 of every 5 people displaced by climate change. The panel will highlight how women are driving climate action and explore solutions that empower women and girls through education.

Panelists
Lorena Aguilar is Executive Director of the Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls at Binghamton University and former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica. A global leader in human rights, inclusion, and sustainable development, she has advised governments, UN agencies, and NGOs across more than 50 countries.

Christina Kwauk, PhD, is a social scientist specializing in education and training for climate action, with expertise in girls’ education, youth empowerment, and gender-climate intersections. She is Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer at Unbounded Associates and serves on multiple international councils. She has held roles at Brookings Institution, the Education Commission, and the MECCE Project.

Nevada Winrow, PhD, is Founder & CEO of Black Girls Dive Foundation, a nonprofit empowering underrepresented youth through STEM, marine science, SCUBA, and robotics. A neuroscientist and former professor, she has built partnerships with aquariums, universities, and research institutions, creating transformative programs that broaden STEM participation and foster environmental stewardship.

Sustainable Solutions Series
Presented by Johns Hopkins University’s Environmental Sciences and Policy and Energy Policy and Climate programs, the Sustainable Solutions Speaker Series features scholars and practitioners tackling pressing environmental and energy challenges.

Accessibility: For requests, contact [email protected]

09/12/2025

Trying to decide what’s next? Seeking a new position, advice on how to build your portfolio, or ideas on professional networking in the climate, energy, or sustainability space? Join me on Wednesday, September 17, at 6:00 PM Eastern when I'll be moderating a very special edition of our Sustainable Solutions Speaker Series. The event is free and open to the public. Please register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pathways-to-success-exploring-career-possibilities-tickets-1602550464579?aff=ConstantContact

The panel, "Pathways to Success: Exploring Career Possibilities," focuses on careers in the nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors, including positions related to climate change, sustainability, conservation, clean energy, social change, and much more. We'll also explore trends and insights for career opportunities in a time of uncertainty.

We have a fantastic panel, including Leonard Adler (Founder and CEO of Green Jobs Network, https://greenjobs.net/ ), Hillary Fenrich (Global Manager of Nature & Water Strategy at McDonald’s Corporation, and M.S. student at JHU in the Environmental Sciences and Policy Program), and Winnie Lam (Senior Director of Sustainability and Design Engineering at Nike and a graduate of JHU's Master's program in Energy Policy and Climate.)

The Sustainable Solutions Speaker Series is presented by the Environmental Sciences and Policy (ESP) and the Energy Policy and Climate (EPC) programs at Johns Hopkins University, Advanced Academic Programs.
ESP: https://advanced.jhu.edu/academics/graduate/ms-environmental-sciences-policy/
EPC: https://advanced.jhu.edu/academics/graduate/ms-energy-policy-climate/

Again, the event is free, but you must register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pathways-to-success-exploring-career-possibilities-tickets-1602550464579?aff=ConstantContact

10/30/2024

TONIGHT! A reminder: Please join me tomorrow evening (Wednesday, October 30, at 6:00 p.m. EDT) when I'll be moderating a fascinating and insightful discussion about Amazon+10. This Brazilian initiative is advancing innovative solutions to promote a more sustainable development model in the Amazon, which is profoundly impacted by rapid and extensive development. The discussion will focus on new community-based sustainable development opportunities, such as valorizing the standing forest and developing supply chains for products derived from cacao, Brazil nuts, and acai.

This event is presented by Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs' "Sustainable Solutions Speaker Series."
WHEN: Wednesday, October 30 at 6:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE: This is an online (Zoom) event

REGISTRATION LINK: https://bit.ly/3UsF1bi

Dr. Antoinette WinklerPrins is Deputy Division Director of the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences at the National Science Foundation and the former Director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Johns Hopkins University, Advanced Academic Programs. She is a human-environment geographer specializing in nature-society relations, with particular expertise in the Brazilian Amazon.

Dr. Rafael Andery is the Executive Secretary of the Amazon+10 Initiative. He previously served as Deputy Secretary of Science, Technology, and Innovation and as Special Advisor for Science, Technology, Innovation, and Higher Education in the Secretariat of Economic Development of the State of São Paulo. He has experience in law, communication, and public management, focusing on scientific and technological policies.

The "Sustainable Solutions Speaker Series" is presented by the Environmental Sciences and Policy and the Energy Policy and Climate programs at Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs. Each talk features scholars and practitioners working to tackle daunting environmental, energy, and climate problems. Speakers discuss how they leverage technology, policy, the private sector, markets, research, and fieldwork to form innovative and lasting solutions. From water insecurity to climate adaptation, natural resource conflict to energy transitions, and food insecurity to sustainable agriculture, this series features the depth and breadth of Johns Hopkins University faculty and our greater community as we work toward a sustainable future.

08/12/2024

Our local farmers market was selling angler fish yesterday. Fortunately it’s sustainable

07/10/2024

Here are a few more horseshoe crab pics from the annual mating event last month on Delaware Bay. It's hard to imagine that these animals have survived for 450 billion years. That makes them ten times older than the rings of Saturn and nearly three times older than the dinosaurs. They have borne witness to all of human history, and humanity probably threatens their survival more than any other they have encountered in those billions of years. I hope we both survive for millennia and find harmony along the way.

07/07/2024

With sadness, I report the passing of my colleague and friend, Wayne Smith. Former Head of Mission in Cuba under Presidents Carter and Reagan, he was a champion for normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The attached NY Times article gives you an idea of Wayne's dedication. Wayne, Robert Muse, Esq., Wes Tunnel, Ph.D., and I worked together -- along with Cuban and Mexican colleagues -- to create the Trinational Initiative for Marine Science and Conservation in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean. I led its first meeting in Cancun in 2007. The Initiative has elevated collaboration in research and conservation among Cuba, Mexico, and the U.S. This wouldn't have happened without Wayne's tireless efforts to push back against the George W. Bush administration's rules restricting U.S. educational activities in Cuba. I credit his leadership with the lifting of those restrictions and enduring protection of educational activities, including the fact that I was able to teach two successful Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs field courses in Cuba earlier this year. Thank you, Wayne.

A former State Department official, he resigned in protest in 1982 over Cuba policy, then spent decades trying to rebuild relations with the island nation.

07/01/2024

Today is the beginning of an exciting new chapter in my career. I have been privileged to be part of Johns Hopkins University's adjunct faculty for the past four years. Today, I have assumed a full-time position as Program Coordinator / Lecturer / Academic Advisor at Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, for the M.S. programs in Environmental Sciences & Policy / Energy, Policy & Climate. Being an educator has been a cherished thread throughout my career since the age of 19 when I began teaching at Seacamp Association, Inc. in the Florida Keys. Teaching graduate students at Hopkins -- the next generation of environmental leaders -- has been gratifying beyond words, and I look forward to fully dedicating myself to preparing them for the daunting challenges they will face. I know they're up to the task. I will continue to be an advocate for the protection and restoration of our ocean planet. I will also continue working closely with Cuban colleagues, now focusing on education. (This photo is one of two Hopkins field courses I taught in Cuba earlier this year.) My thanks to Johns Hopkins for believing in me, and my thanks to all of you for your unwavering support!

06/20/2024

I’ve been documenting and photographing one of the most dramatic events in nature: The mating of the horseshoe crabs along Delaware Bay. Massive numbers of these prehistoric creatures come ashore to mate every May-June. A shout out to Amanda Lyons, Research & Conservation Coordinator at The Wetlands Institute for doing such important work to study and protect this remarkable species. This photo was taken last evening.

04/22/2024

Happy Earth Day! NASA's Earth Day graphic says it all...

12/28/2023

Why There is Still Hope for Coral Reefs: https://oceandoctor.org/why-there-is-still-hope-for-coral-reefs/

12/28/2023

Please consider helping us continue our work to rescue coral reefs.

We started killing coral reefs in the 1970s – most likely earlier. What is lost in the news about climate change — likely the most serious threat to coral reefs — is the fact that there are many impacts that humans have caused over decades to undermine the health of these magnificent ecosystem...

12/19/2023

An important video message from the late Capt. Don Walsh, one of the two human beings to first visit the deepest part of the ocean, seven miles deep in 1960, an accomplishment not repeated for more than 50 years. VIDEO: https://oceandoctor.org/video-message-from-capt-don-walsh-to-students-everywhere/